Canyon Fire 2 Impact on Disneyland
Wildfires spreading west from Anaheim Hills have forced some evacuations in the area around Disneyland. Social media being what it is, of course there are rumors that Disneyland is closing or is in imminent danger from the wildfire. Much like the viral “photos” of Cinderella Castle being disassembled in advance of Hurricane Irma, this is false. (Last updated October 11, 2017.)
This wind-driven brush fire known as “Canyon Fire Two” started Monday morning at around 9 a.m., and quickly burned over 2,000 acres. As Canyon Fire 2 has moved quickly through the area, it has caused the evacuation of 1,000 homes in Anaheim Hills, Tustin, and Orange, with the eastbound 91 freeway closed near the 241 toll road. The Los Angeles Times and OC Register both are posting regular updates about the fire.
The fire has resulted in orange huge smoke plumes giving an apocalyptic color to the sky throughout Orange County, including over Disneyland. (Just check out the eerie sky in the photos below–nope, that’s not a crazy sunset!) Some guests have also noticed ash in their food, and local authorities in Orange County have been advising people to avoid unnecessary outdoor activity due to air quality. Despite that, it’s business as usual at Disneyland…
October 11, 2017 7 a.m. PDT: After spreading to 8,000 acres, Canyon Fire 2 is now over 40 percent contained as of Wednesday morning. All evacuation orders and road closures have been lifted, as lines of containment have been established on both the western and eastern edges of the fire. More favorable weather today should lead to further containment. Unless dramatic changes for the worse occur, operational impacts at Disneyland are now highly unlikely.
October 10, 2017 7 a.m. PDT: Over 7,500 acres have now burned, and the fire is 5% contained. Additionally, the NWS has issued a Red Flag Warning through this morning for Orange County (including Disneyland). Northeast winds expected to reach 15 to 25 mph and gusts to be around 35 mph. Governor Jerry Brown has declared a state of emergency for the California counties, including Orange, impacted by the fires.
Forecasters anticipate temperatures and winds dropping Wednesday, which should better allow firefighters to battle the blaze. Thus far, no changes have been made to the operating hours of Disneyland. At minimum, we anticipate the Disneyland fireworks to be canceled (when scheduled) every night that this wildfire continues.
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Despite having a really wet winter and spring, we’ve had an abnormally high number of wildfires in California this year. At one point in September, there were simultaneously 19 large wildfires throughout California, including a brush fire that was being called the largest ever in Los Angeles.
However, just because there are wildfires in the area does not mean they necessarily pose a threat to Disneyland. In the late summer, there were wildfires to the north of us in Burbank and south of us in Camp Pendleton. Neither of these areas are particularly close to us, but due to the marine layer and wind, at various times we could smell the fires, and see a hazy orange sky as a result. We were always quite far from the evacuation areas, but could see/smell the fire, nonetheless.
Point-being, we would not rush to cancel a trip to Disneyland if you’re scheduled to visit soon. While we are in no way wildfire experts (and these are just as unpredictable as other natural disasters), the Santa Ana winds could shift tonight and cause the wildfire to die down, or head the other direction. As of right now, we recommend taking a wait and see approach. For the sake of locals whose homes are in danger, we’re hopeful that local firefighters will start to contain Canyon Fire 2 very soon.
Here are some photos & video of how Disneyland and Disney California Adventure look now:
I hope everyone is ok🙏 #disneylandfire @CNN @CNNireport #cnnireport @Andersoncooper #fire #sleepingbeautycastle @wolfblitzer pic.twitter.com/cVGGaWLUQL
– Vedder💥9💥Gabriel (@PureMichiganDMD) October 9, 2017
Great blog, Tom! Thanks for starting it …
Thanks for the mattercam live website. I noticed that the sky is blue and disneyland seems okay to go as we are flying to LA tomorrow and stay for a weekend in disneyland.
We’re going mid-November and praying for everyone’s sake that wildfires will be completely contained by then!
Wondering if those of you in the know have any updates as of today, Wednesday?
Kids and i are heading to DL tomorrow but still hesitant only because of air quality. thanks so much 😉
The weather is perfect down here today. The smoke had cleared all the way out.
Thank you so much for the update we coming from Chicago next week
Hi Kelly,
How was the park? We are flying out from Canada tomorrow morning and I have to admit, I’m a little nervous!
We just got here and it’s teally clear. No residual smoke. Have a great time!
Wonderful, thanks Kelly! Hope you all enjoyed yourselves!
We plan to arrive on Friday staying by Disneyland, have 2 daughters who are expecting, 2 toddlers and 2 small children. I am concerned the effect to their health, especially the expecting mothers. We’ve planned this reunion for a long time. I wondered should we go or not.
I would suggest going. The fire will nearly be put out by Friday and winds have died down a lot since Monday so smoke and ash shouldn’t be pushed as far as Disneyland
I know people down there and they say it’s not very bad at all. A little bad but 1000x better already than yesterday so I’m guessing by Thursday things for me will be a lot better.
How do they measure these things so they can tell it was 1000 times better? Seems like 1000 times better would be a fire that is completely out and all vegetation has regenerated.
Sigh. What I meant was just that the skies are not orange, there is no ash falling at all in any part of the park and breathing is much easier.
I apologize for the exaggeration. But I think you knew that.
It’s unnecessary to apologize. “Literally” everyone reading this knew what you meant, and understands the concept of hyperbole. Some people seem to think they’re being funny or cute, when in reality, it’s just rude and obnoxious.
Thanks for letting us know! We are headed there next week and it’s difficult to gauge the situation from out-of-state.
We will be heading there in 2 weeks. Any guesses on it being contained by then? I am severely allergic to wood smoke.
It should be contained within a few days, not weeks.
The air quality is not great, by any means, but from people I know in the park today it is worlds better than yesterday. There is even blue in the sky and the park is rather busy.
Maybe contacting knowledgeable authorities like, oh, lets just say off the top of my head, Fire officials, would be better than coming on here and asking laypersons.
There is no call to be snide. The people here may have a great knowledge of what is going on. I recommend checking out the Disneyland web cam:
http://www.hojoanaheim.com/take-a-tour/webcam
Me too, Beth! That has been my biggest concern about going mid-November if not under control by then or, God forbid, more wildfires erupt.
We are surprised it’s not as bad as we thought. Heading to the park.
We are here today to attend the park. The air quality was slightly irritating to the lungs yesterday and we haven’t been outside yet today. The low (yesterday smoke was a lot higher) smoke plumes are lingering and show no signs of dissipating. I wish I could share a picture. I can’t see Angel Stadium from the Hilton Anaheim Orange Hotel. Local news just said to stay inside. I agree. It’s pretty thick. Wish I could give better advice. Local news not reporting on Disneyland as of yet. Will let you know if they say anything.
Thanks for the update!
For what it’s worth, by around 10 a.m., the marine layer should dissipate, which will help with at least some of the smoke and visibility. I’m not saying you should go to the park (obviously, that’s a personal decision), just something I figured I’d mention in case you’re not familiar with our hazy California skies. 🙂
So my family and I plan to head to Disneyland this Thursday and Friday. Do you think everything should be okay by then?? We planned this trip for months and yesterday they had to cancel the firework show:/
I don’t know if things will be better by Thursday or Friday, but the local news seems fairly optimistic that Wednesday’s weather should be more conducive to getting the fire under control. If it were me, I’d plan on going on the trip as normal unless things take a turn for the worse today or tomorrow.
Keep in mind that the fireworks at Disneyland get cancelled all the time. Even if there was no fire yesterday, I can assure you that the wind was far too strong for the fireworks to run. (If you’re unfamiliar with it, the backside of Disneyland abuts a highway and residential area–they cannot shoot off the fireworks even in the lightest of winds.)
We were at the park all day yesterday, Monday , when the fire started. The sky was orange, the sun looked like a ball of fire, Ash was falling all around us the entire day, phones were going off with sounds of emergency evacuation of the surrounding areas, it smelled like smoke and air quality was terrible. However, we stayed at the park the entire day and enjoyed ourselves. The fire didn’t seem to scare anyone enough to leave. We were supposed to go back today but not sure…
The Sun IS a ball of fire, so no great surprise there.
Hey Schmuael- I know you think you are being funny, but these asinine comments aren’t needed on this blog. I know other Disney related bloggers have numerous dumb commenters like you, but this one doesn’t. And really…you pick a blog about a natural disaster to be an idiot. Take it somewhere else.
My family and I arrive on Saturday for a trip to DCA Sunday and Disneyland on Monday. I’m hoping it clears up by then.
We are planning to drive from Phoenix to Disneyland early Friday morning. Wondering if we should even try with all the road closures. I guess we will continue to watch….
I’d probably wait until mid-afternoon tomorrow to make the call. You might have to avoid the 91, but if the fire is contained by then, you might not have to alter your route at all.
Crazy how fast this has happened. I was literally in the park all morning on Sunday (yesterday) and there wasn’t a trace of any of this. Hope it passes as quickly as it appeared.
Yeah, and with only 5% containment as of the last update, I fear it’s only going to get worse in the next couple of days. I’m hopeful firefighters can get it contained, but it’s definitely worrying.
You were LITERALLY in the Park?! Are you certain it wasn’t FIGURATIVELY – like maybe you dreamt it?
Your comments are the most pointless, and most useless, I have ever seen on this blog.
I would call upon authors/moderators to restrict this users access to the blog.
Thanks, Tom – it’s been difficult to get a handle on the actual vs exaggerated reports from here on the east coast. Those are some ominous photos, indeed.
Thank you. We are supposed to fly into Orange County on Wednesday for a week long stay at Disneyland. I pretty much have a day to decide whether to cancel or not. This post is encouraging, although I worry about the air quality for my two children.
Us too! What did you decide?
We are in the same boat (due to arrive Thursday for 3 days at the parks). Does anyone know how airlines handle change fees associated with wildfires? I cannot seem to find any general advice online. Planning on calling United later regardless to know the options.
We planned this trip for months. We fly out to California tomorrow morning, so just have to hope for the best :/